Is cricket losing its honour?

As another season of cricket-madness descends on us, it might be worthwhile to ponder that what we are watching doesn't quite resemble what was in days gone by. It's nothing to do with coloured pyjamas and white balls and short forms of the game; rather it's the whole systematic agenda, which could positively be called a conspiracy, against the bowlers.

And lest readers think these columns are now hosting unhinged views, please do consider the slew of laws, regulations and restrictions bowlers face. Indeed, the evolution of the game has seen the victimisation of the ball and the glorification of the bat and those who wield it. Take the fielding restrictions. How can it be logical that you can't put all your fielders where you want them throughout a match? Hitting all those scrumptious boundaries wouldn't be all that easy then, would it, one wants to ask the heavily guarded, riot police-like geared beings commonly known as batsmen! And if we could possibly have a repeal of that law which doesn't let fast bowlers bowl as many bouncers and snorters as they want, then maybe all that protective gear could begin to have some justification. Is any sight more idiotic than watching helmet-clad chaps facing a spinner?

Take the idea of a no-ball translating into a 'free hit'. What on earth does that mean? You want free hits; walk into a crowded bus or the Mumbai local! But no, nothing moronic shall be considered so while it abets, unlawfully, immorally and unethically the cause of batsmen. Life has been made so hard for bowlers that a maiden over now seems like a miracle. The moral turpitude of batsmen has gone so far as to make them smile smugly and victoriously even if an edge off a ball that utterly beat them goes streaking across the ropes! No, sirs, cricket is losing its honour!